Major consultation starts with click of a mouse

COMMUNITY leaders are about to start a crucial consultation on the future of four landmark buildings in Glossop town centre.

Monday week (May 28) marks the beginning of a four-part community conversation, called Open Halls, that will give residents, businesses and organisations plenty of chance to make themselves heard on what happens to the Town Hall, Market Hall, Municipal Buildings and Victoria Hall.

Organised by High Peak Borough Council, the consultation kicks off with Open Halls Online, which will see the authority’s website at being used to outline the timetable and invite expressions of interest from community organisations willing to discuss managing some or all of the buildings.

Social media including Twitter will also be used to make contact with groups.

As the four buildings are important to the town’s landscape, the council is keen to ensure they are well looked after and provide the services needed by the people of Glossopdale in the 21st Century. However, important decisions must be made as the upper floors of the Town Hall and Victoria Hall are not used while the rest of Victoria Hall will become empty when Derbyshire County Council relocates its library.

Municipal Buildings provides offices for the borough council plus a public services one-stop shop but Market Hall needs investment if it is to remain an attractive, convenient venue for market traders and shoppers alike.

Other stages of the consultation are as follows:

• Open Halls Launch in Bradbury House on Monday, June 11 when the public will be able to see plans of the properties, learn about their history, and register an interest in helping run the buildings
• Open Halls Ideas in Bradbury House on Thursday, June 21 when council staff and councillors will be on hand to discuss draft proposals and unveil a survey that the public will be encouraged to complete by Friday, July 13
• Open Halls: Your Voice in Bradbury House on Thursday, July 5 when feedback from stages two and three will be presented at a public meeting.

Council leader Caitlin Bisknell explained: “Open Halls will help us make decisions, and identify people and groups we can work with. We want to develop a realistic plan that will give these buildings a bright future”.

Open Halls builds on the Glossop Design and Place Making Strategy adopted this year following extensive consultation which found that the public wanted the buildings kept for public use, with the focus staying on public services and supporting Glossop Market.

The possibility of transferring some or all of the properties to a suitable development trust or social enterprise is one of the issues on which the consultation will seek views.